I wrote about this banana bread back in February and I have made it a bunch more times and have a few additions/changes. Practice makes perfect, in most things, and this chocolate chip infused banana bread is no exception. If you can serve this warm after it has come out of the oven and sit a bit, you are going to be really happy. Makes a lovely dessert. Reheating in the microwave is fine, but reheating a piece in the oven is best. Below is the same recipe I posted before, but with the changes/additions made–more banana, more chocolate chips and the addition of vanilla extract. I took the photo of the above piece just a bit ago and am having it with my iced coffee. My Monday morning has begun quite fine…

Turn oven on to 325 degrees and it will heat up while you get this put together. Mush up 3 ripe bananas in a good sized mixing bowl. To that add one egg, a cup of white sugar, and a 1/4 of a cup (which is half a stick) melted butter and a good splash or two of vanilla extract. We are Watkins fans, selling it at the shop since we first opened. Set aside. In another bowl, put in 1 and a half cups of all-purpose flour with a teaspoon of baking soda and a big pinch of salt. Mix those 3 dry ingredients together. Now slowly mix the dry mixture into the banana mixer until full incorporated. My goal was to do this by hand and not a mixer as I was wanting this to be as simple as possible. Then mix in a bag (typically around 11 ounces) of the best milk chocolate chips you can get your hands on. I am a big fan of Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips. It is ready to be put into a butter greased pan. We did not have a loaf shaped pan so I used a round cake pan. Use whatever you have/like. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!

I am not a baker. Let me start off by saying this right off the bat. Mister Sive is the baker in the family, and I have and always will be quite happy about that. Baking requires measuring, which has never been my strong suit. I like pinches of this, a glug of that. The idea of making anything with yeast just makes me anxious. That is why I have great respect for bakers. But this banana bread is really the simplest thing, I just had to share. So few ingredients and so tasty. I was trying to recreate a banana bread with chocolate chips that is my absolute favorite thing I get at Cherry Street Coffee by the Home store in Seattle. I had bought a bunch of bananas in the city when I was at the show last week. A few made the trek up the Taconic. TPS was still asleep and I had a hankering for this bread. “I can do this,” I thought. A little searching around the web and pulling from a few things I saw and here is what I came up with. As stated earlier, incredibly simple stuff.

Turn oven on to 325 degrees and it will heat up while you get this put together. Mush up 2 to 3 quite ripe bananas in a good sized mixing bowl. To that add one egg, a cup of white sugar, and a 1/4 of a cup (which is half a stick) melted butter. Set aside. In another bowl, put in 1 and a half cups of all-purpose flour with a teaspoon of baking soda and half of a teaspoon of salt. Mix those 3 dry ingredients together. Now slowly mix the dry mixture into the banana mixer until full incorporated. My goal was to do this by hand and not a mixer as I was wanting this to be as simple as possible. Then mix in a cup of the best milk chocolate chips you can get your hands on. I chopped them up a bit, but now don’t think was necessary so won’t do the next time. It is ready to be put into a butter greased pan. We did not have a loaf shaped pan so I used a round cake pan. Use whatever you have/like. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

That was it. I by no means consider myself a baker but sometimes you just have to have a piece of banana bread with chocolate chips with your morning coffee and you do what you have to do to make that happen. Insert happy smile…

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